Mojyo Memoirs
by Noodlenugget
Summary: An ever-expanding treasure trove of watamote one-shots starring everyone's favorite Mojyo: Tomoko Kuroki!
1. I'll try cosplaying!

**Since I'm not popular, I'll try cosplaying!**

Tomoko Kuroki was an otaku. She read nothing but manga, she watched anime every chance she got and played video games like nobody's business. This, you think would make her a repeated convention attendee but you'd be wrong. You see, due to Tomoko's extreme shyness and tendency to stutter like a maniac when faced with something as simple as talking to another human being, she had yet to visit a convention. Not to mention that all of them took place in other cities and she had neither the guts nor money to travel. She'd asked her brother once if he'd take her but all she got out of the deal was a "Get out." and a door slammed in her face. Tomoko refused to blame herself for being pushy however and simply assumed that he was about to masturbate. He WAS a teenage boy after all; they could barely go a week without it.

Hence why Tomoko was very surprised when her best and only friend Yuu invited her to one.

"A video game convention?" Tomoko asked, laying like a log on her small, plush bed, her purple plush man-thing lying next to her like an equally lazy roommate. "Of course! Of course! I'd love to go!"

"Really?!" Yuu squealed eagerly. "That's great! It's next Saturday at the mall we like! They're going to announce when that new game will be released!"

The social outcast groaned. She remembered the mall Yuu was talking about. Last time she'd been there, she had picked out a pair of perfect pink panties to wear to school, only for her to expose them in the middle of class. Needless to say, said underwear was promptly torn apart next chance she got and thrown in the bin. 1,680 yen down the drain.

"And don't forget, it's cosplay!" Yuu continued, her voice pulling Tomoko kicking and screaming from her memories to reality.

"Don't worry! I'll remember!" Tomoko chuckled confidently, putting on an air of false courage. "Bye!" And with that, she turned off her phone before Yuu could say another word.

Now the plucky young woman was in a pickle. What was she going to wear? She could always wear her troll maid costume from that time in first year when her class did the cosplay café… But that wasn't from a game. Unless of course, she passed it off as being a boss from Touhou…

"Woah! Tomoko-chan looks so cute!" Squealed a fat, greasy otaku. Soon enough, a hoard of nerds surrounded the young girl, foul-smelling drool pouring from their mouths.

Deciding to give the perverts what they wanted, Tomoko gave an adorable little twirl and a girlish giggle.

"Oh, you like it? It's a boss from Touhou." She smiled, giving a little wink.

"NO, IT ISN'T!" Screamed a large, sweaty pig from some distance away, sprinting over with a large book. "This official guidebook has every boss in it and your costume doesn't match any of them!"

There was a long silence. Everyone stared at Tomoko for quite some time before pointing at her and chanting simultaneously.

"Liar! Fraud! Fake! Cheater!"

Tomoko tried to block out the noise. Her hands clamped as hard as they could over her small, delicate ears yet the horrible truth still managed to worm its way in...The accusations slid into her brain, ringing throughout her head…

She could almost hear the *Poof!* her mind made when her fantasy dissipated back into her subconscious.

Tomoko sighed and put the costume away into the messy abyss she called her closet.

 _Best not to risk it,_ she thought to herself. _Some jerk who can't keep his mouth shut will ruin it for me_

Folding her arms, she came to a conclusion: She'd have to buy a whole new costume.

* * *

It was after school the next Friday when Tomoko rode the escalator. Peering around, she could see posters of famous video game characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario stuck around the mall, each one more spectacular and loud than the last. The only reason the girl was here was that she had no luck anywhere else. She hadn't had any luck at the small store she had bought her Oni costume and all the costumes she had spent last week looking at online were way out of her price range. Thus, she had been forced to try her luck at the cosplay store at the very mall she was going to the next day.

Of course, she'd have no luck here. All the costumes would have been taken already, she just knew it. There was no way that that Samus Aran costume she could barely see in the distance was real.

SAMUS COSTUME?!

Her feet soon touching the solid floor of the mall, Tomoko forgot all her manners and sprinted over to the store like a serial killer was on her heels. Screeching to an immediate halt, she grabbed the plastic-encased costume before anyone could stop her. The comfortable, light material, the shining colours... There was no mistake: It was Samus Aran's zero suit. The bright blue one-piece looked even better in person than it did on a TV screen! It was perfect! Sure, it didn't come with a wig but she was willing to take what she could get.

Grasping it tightly, Tomoko giggled and allowed herself to twirl giddily. Nearly all the costumes were sold out; seems like God was on her side today. Wandering over to the cashier, she couldn't resist chuckling to herself.

 _Stupid sluts, thinking that they can just buy a costume on the day,_ She thought to herself. _Well, they can't and it'll serve them right._

Grinning, the girl silently thanked the gods that she was not born stupid. True she had born unattractive, unwanted and not particularly intelligent but hey, that was better than being a complete and utter bitch who thought they could away with everything just because she was pretty.

Still, perhaps having blonde hair would be a plus on this occasion. It'd add to the realism if nothing else…

"Excuse me? Miss?" Came a voice from the heavens.

A tall, handsome and extremely handsome bishonen in a work uniform stood before her. Gasping, Tomoko stared back at him.

"He…He's gorgeous!" The girl thought to herself.

Gasping desperately for air, Tomoko nervously handed her costume to the young man. The contrast in their confidence and poise was simply awe-inspiring; the male effortlessly scanned the price tag while the female was fighting to simply stay on her own two feet, which like the rest of her not-so-beautiful body was shaking like she'd been caught in the Arctic Circle.

"H...H...How much?" Tomoko asked, feeling as if she was about to faint.

"That'll be 3000 yen please," The beautiful bishonen smiled, holding out his hand. Is it a gift for someone?"

Tomoko barely survived handing him the money.

"N…no…It…It's…for me…" She whimpered.

Gasping, she grabbed the outfit and briskly walked out of the store. Why'd he think the costume was for someone else? Was she not attractive enough to wear it? The sad thing was that he was probably right. Still, she might win a consolation prize if they had a costume competition. Pulling her head up high, Tomoko let herself smile.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

* * *

"And that's when I not only got a killer outfit but I also got the guys number." Tomoko bragged to her brother that night, giggling to herself as she presented her costume. The other person in the conversation looked much less interested than he ought to, not-so-secretly wishing she'd leave.

"You got the number of a guy you just met?" He asked his younger sister, sure that one day she'd choke on her own stupidity. Of course, she hadn't really got his number but he decided to humour her.

"Of course!" The newly-crowned "Bitch" chuckled, feeling oh-so-very triumphant.

She wasn't sure if Tomoki was buying it or not but it felt damn good to be able to boast about her victories. "And when I go to the convention tomorrow, everyone will be fawning over me. You'll see! I'll come home with at least ten men behind me!"

"And pigs may fly." Tomoki spat.

"Oh, poor naive little brother," Tomoko smiled, walking out of the room with a smirk stretched across her face. "Poor, poor little brother."

And with that, she left to hang up her costume, still laughing to herself. Tomoki watched her leave with a sense of relief.

"Didn't even shut the door behind her." He muttered to himself.

The great day arrived at last. Tomoko had dragged a brush kicking and screaming through her tumbleweed of black hair, taken a shower for the first time that week and gotten five more minutes of sleep than she usually did. Opening her cupboard, she unhooked her secret weapon. Fresh out the packaging was the way to go. That way no embarrassing wrinkles or creases would ruin her sexy suit. Opening the packaging in one swift motion, Tomoko slipped one leg into the suit. Then the other. With one final pull, the suit slid up her body…

"SNAP!"

Tomoko felt like time itself had gone on a lunch break. Forcing her head to look down, her eyes popped out of their sockets as they gazed at her exposed socks. The suit was way too small for her! No way! This couldn't be happening! The girl snatched the packaging and stared at it, flipping it this way and that as she looked for an answer.

Then she saw it.

"Age 9-12" Read a small, yellow star on the back.

At this point, Tomoko gave up acting like a decent, somewhat dignified human being and flung herself into insanity. Wriggling wildly on the floor, the disgrace of a teenager screamed over and over, adding the occasional flop to her cocktail of madness. How could she have messed up like that? How could she have forgotten this one tiny detail! It wasn't her fault! It must have been that handsome guy! She'd been so distracted by those dreamy brown eyes...And that chestnut hair that swept over to the left...

Dammit! No wonder he'd asked if it was someone else!

Having spent the last five minutes having a meltdown, Tomoko got up and mopped her brow, cold sweat seeping down her hand. Crying like a brat wasn't going to solve anything. What she needed to do was find an alternative costume to wear. When most people think, they either take a dump or put on a thinking cap but Tomoko had a much better way of thinking: Flopping down on her bed. And that's exactly what she did.

Staring down at her sheets, her mind kicked into overdrive to think of a solution. Right now all she wanted to do was curl up under the covers and never come out…

And that's when she got an idea. It was risky. It was unorthodox. But it had to be done. Now, where were the scissors?

* * *

Yuu Naruse looked around the mall, eyes like searchlights. She'd texted her friend several times and she had not once replied. Tomoko wasn't the kind to break promises to her, she must be running late. All around her, people were dressed up as heroes and villains of games present and past. It made the teen feel a little depressed, wondering if she had the right to stand amongst them. There was no telling how many made their own costumes after; She'd just bought hers online!

"Hey, Yuu-chan." Came a little voice.

The girl turned around to find a blue sheet with two small holes for eyes staring back at her. Only one person she knew would do something like that.

"Oh! Mokochii! I'm glad you could make it!" Yuu cheered, smiling like a kindergartner after being given a piece of candy. Looking down at her friend, she could tell that she impressed by her costume. "Do you like my costume?" Yuu smiled, doing a little twirl and swishing a string of beautiful honey-coloured hair out her eyes. It's the Zero Suit Samus from Metroid wears!"

Tomoko resisted the urge to choke herself right there on the spot. How dare Yuu cosplay as Samus?! Was she trying to taunt her?! She truly must be a slut. Why else would she wear something so tight? The Mojyo glared from under her costume, forgetting that she almost ended up wearing the same thing.

"I like yours too." Yuu continued, oblivious to Tomoko's inner hatred of the entire situation. "You're...a ghost, right?"

Her friend chuckled weakly.

"Y… Yeah. I'm a ghost from Pac-Man. She said, trying to twirl like Yuu had done not a moment ago.

Unfortunately, it turned into more of a repulsive spin than an elegant twirl, nearly falling over onto the cold, hard floor. Gym was never her best subject after all.

"So, what gave you the idea to choose it?" Yuu asked, leaning in.

Tomoko let out a small, sad sigh.

"I don't wanna talk about it." She groaned.


	2. I'll go on a chat room!

**Since I'm not popular, I'll go on a chat room**

The sun shone beautifully across Japan, spreading its warmth to every corner, nook and cranny it could reach. The cicadas clung to the trees for dear life, chirping out their signature symphony. A gentle breeze blew through the skies, adding a touch of cold to the hot, sunny day. Every park in the neighbourhood was packed to the brim with children playing outside, begging their parents for ice cream from the nearest van. Every street was filled with the sounds of portable fans and panting dogs. Every building had the cooling sensation of air conditioning blowing on full blast. The heat wave had swept throughout the entire city, forcing everyone to go outside and experience the beauty of the world around them.

At least, almost everyone.

* * *

Fingers a blur, Tomoko Kuroki flicked her control stick in direction after direction, forcing her robotic avatar on the television screen to obey her wish: Shoot a massive purple energy beam out of her hands and blast a robot as big as a house to pieces. While everyone else was outside and enjoying the wonders of the world, Tomoko could usually be found inside the pleasant confinement of her room. Being the socially challenged girl she was, even going out to the shops was a challenge for her. Sometimes, she would ask her brother to go out with her but that usually resulted in a "Get out" or the door being slammed right in her pale little face.

Sometimes both.

To deal with her constant frustration with the world around her, the teenager would usually clamp down on her derriere and play video games all day. As Tomoko lead an entire army of robots to hell, she narrowed her eyes and let herself smirk. With a sadistic gleam in her eyes, she continued her massacre, so enticed in her game that she was unaware of a waterfall of drool dripping down her mouth.

"Winner!" Announced the video game, as if there was any doubt Tomoko would lose.

The girl smiled to herself as her onslaught came to a close.

"What chance does a program have against an actual human?" She asked, knowing that she would not be receiving a response.

Years of staying inside playing games had given her enough experience to defeat almost any level in a game in record time, albeit it not doing any wonders for her social life, which was practically non-existent. Tomoko had tried many times before to be like a normal teenager. She had tried changing her appearance, getting a job and even once got molested by a wooden pole (Don't ask). Still, she had all but given up despite her countless failures. It was more even frustrating when you considered that her younger brother was not only popular but star striker in his middle school's football team. Tomoko was sure that he was secretly having a fling with one of the cheerleaders. After all, he couldn't stay a boy forever.

Putting down her controller and switching off her game console, the social recluse took a large drink from her can of diet cola before moving on to position B: The seat on her computer.

"All those idiots are running around outside when the weather is so damn hot," Tomoko grinned, imagining the people outside as sweating pigs. "They're all going to melt and become little puddles on the sidewalk."

Inside her weird and wacky mind, Tomoko imagined the entire population of Japan melting into puddles of liquid skin, muscle and blood, slipping into the cracks of the pavements or being slowly absorbed into the soil, helpless to resist. Those who were not brought into the ground would be evaporated by the sun and turned into rain, becoming nothing more than a part of the endless melancholy of the water cycle.

That'd be nice.

Rapidly tapping her fingers against the keys, Tomoko decided to see what was going on in the world around her, ignoring the option of simply looking out of the window. After several minutes of searching the infinite pool of knowledge that was the internet, the recluse let out a sigh as she brushed her fingers through her messy black hair.

"So much destruction and war in the world. Heh, Humans really are pathetic. Every one of them should die out and do the earth a favour." She grinned, ignoring the fact that she too was a human. A very disturbing specimen but still a human nonetheless.

Resuming her finger-tapping, the mojyo continued to browse the internet, generic J-rock bands blasting their beats through her blue headphones. Her fingers stopped, however, when she came across an article that was of severe interest to her.

"Man marries woman after 3 days of chats on a chat room?" She read aloud. "Heh, men are such perverts."

Tomoko had been on chat rooms once or twice before. She'd never had much luck with them in the past, what with them all being filled with people trying to start arguments and overall not showing much intelligence. Even someone as friendless, unhygienic and overall pathetic as Tomoko knew the dangers of those parts of the internet. Still, she was bored and had little else to do…Perhaps if she could somehow master the art of online chats then she could finally have a decent conversation at school? Talking on the internet was more-or-less like talking to someone in real life, only without seeing their face.

Clicking away, Tomoko arrived at a one-on-one chat room, a large box catching her sleep-deprived eyes.

"What do you want to talk about?" Asked the box.

Thinking for a minute, Tomoko mentally listed her options.

"If I put a lot of interests, then I'll have the best chance of getting someone with at least half a brain!" She smiled, patting herself on the back.

Stretching her arms to warm herself up, Tomoko worked into overdrive, typing in the names of video games, anime and manga of all different demographics and genres. With a click of the "Go!" button, Tomoko awaited her internet suitor.

This had to work.

To her surprise, one came quite quickly, the words "You both like Manga" appearing in grey text at the top of the screen.

"Hello" said the stranger.

"Hi" Tomoko typed back.

"ASL?" asked the stranger.

The maiden paused for a brief minute. Everyone was taught as a child to never give out your age, location, name, etc, etc on the internet...

 _Meh,_ Tomoko thought, resuming her typing. What her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her. "15, F, Japan" she typed, awaiting a response.

"Ooh...Too young." Came her reply.

Then the stranger disconnected.

"Wh...What?" Tomoko gasped, in sheer disbelief. She'd only done as he asked and now he was already abandoning her? "Hmmph," Tomoko grunted. "What a stupid male." Thinking positive for what must have been the first time in forever, the teen tried again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

"Grgh..." Tomoko groaned. No matter who she talked to, they all left after she told them her real age...

That's when she had an idea. A very, very bright idea. If she couldn't talk to people by being honest then she'd just make up a lie or two! Though it might take ten to catch someone's attention.

"Hello!~" Tomoko typed into the computer, having entered a new chat.

"Hi!" The person replied. "Asl?"

The mojyo thought for a moment. It was probably another pervert looking for another cheap thrill over the internet. Putting her miraculously large knowledge of romance anime and dating simulators to the test, the teenager began to type, fingers moving as fast as lightning. She didn't want the person on the other side to lose interest.

"I'm a 20-year-old college student with sky blue eyes, silky smooth blonde hair and beautiful, clear skin." Tomoko typed. "I've had sex with over 200 men in the past month alone and know every sex position known to man. I'm ready to make your day extra sexy and fun. ~"

"And I'm 36E" She added before the other person had a chance to respond.

There was a long silence. Tomoko waited for a response. The seconds seemed like hours as the clock on her wall ticked... Finally, she got a reply.

"WHAT?!" Tomoko screamed. "They disconnected!?" The outcast's pupils shrank as she clenched her fists. "Why that horrible, worthless pervert! I tried my best to be sexy and pleasing for him and he just leaves!?"

Calming down after her minuscule rampage, Tomoko went back onto her favourite gaming sites. _The nerve of some people,_ She thought to herself, thanking God that she was born a girl.

* * *

"And then I finally found the shoes I was looking for!" Squealed the other person at the end of Tomoko's phone. It had been several hours after her little internet adventure and after giving up, she had simply gone back to plan A: Play games, read manga and be extremely lazy. It wasn't a particularly productive plan but it had worked out for her none the less.

"Ah, Yuu-chan", Tomoko muttered, trying to change the subject. "I went on a chat room today. It was full of perverts trying to get a piece of me." She continued with disgust. The last thing she wanted was for her one and only friend to experience the horrors of the chat room.

"Oh, so did I!" Yuu replied."

"Don't go on it again," Tomoko said suddenly in her best mentor-like voice. "I tried talking to people, I tried giving 'em interests, I even tried pretending I was a blonde bimbo with massive boobs who was a total slut and those pervs still wouldn't listen to me!"

"I know what you mean." Nodded Yuu, hugging her pink bunny plush close to her. "I went on it this afternoon and the woman I was talking to started talking about how she'd done it with Two hundred men…"

What.

"Then she started describing her body in a lot of detail. It made me uncomfortable so I just left." Yuu continued, shuddering to herself.

Tomoko couldn't hit the "End call" button fast enough. Quickly, she threw the phone onto the floor and hid her head in her pillow, screaming. Had she seriously tried to seduce her best friend?! It wasn't her fault! Making herself seem like a total slut was the only way she could actually hold a conversation on that damned website! Continuing to cry like a wounded animal, Tomoko ignored the angry banging from her brother's room next door and continued to wail. As far as she could see it, her life (As pathetic as it was) was over.

Why was she the only one in the world with any common sense? Why was she always playing the butt monkey to the world? Would her pain ever stop? Finally getting off her bed with a low "Urghhhhh…" Tomoko wobbled over to the door and went downstairs to get a drink, mentally promising herself to never use the internet again. Knowing her, she'd end up breaking her own promise the next day.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuu had also turned off her phone, albeit with much, much less fury and disgust than her friend. In a mixture of pity and sadness, she shook her head.

"Poor, poor Mokochii…" She muttered to herself. "She never learns."


	3. I'll dance!

**Since I'm not popular, I'll dance!**

"One, Two! One, Two! One, two!"

Countless pairs of legs stamped against the wooden floor of the school gym, each girl in perfect sync with the one next to her. After a few more taps, the girls did a perfect spin, followed by a few hand-waves and a shake of the hips. You would be forgiven for thinking they were professional idols, their hours of practice paying off greatly. All of the first-year girls moved as gracefully as swans, performing each move with grace, dignity, and decorum.

Except for one, of course.

"Come on Kuroki! Keep up!"

Tomoko struggled to keep up with the group, arms, and legs a quivering mess as she struggled with each move. While everyone else seemed to boogie without much difficulty, she looked as out of place as a girl among women. True, she had seen several idols dancing online, but that was in the world of anime, where everything looked remarkably easy, yet was actually extremely complex. As she was learning right now, things you see on the internet don't always flawlessly translate to real life.

As the torture dragged on, the final move came up. All Tomoko had to do was get down on one knee and wave her hands. Then, it'd all be over.

Unless of course, that was the wrong move. Was that move for everyone or just for the girl in the middle? Maybe she was supposed to swivel her hips and wink? Put both hands on top of her head? What was it?!

Before she could think of anything else, the end of the song drew near. She'd just have to think of something, fast.

Pose 1: The class swung their hips. Tomoko stood on one leg.

Pose 2: The class pointed. Tomoko swung her hips

Pose 3: The class bent down and winked. Tomoko grabbed her crotch and pointed to the sky.

Needless to say, the mojyo got some funny looks when the music came to a climax. Realizing what was happening, Tomoko let go of her body and struggled to grab a breath. All those eyes staring at her, judging her, disapproving her own style made her clam up, unable to meet their gaze. Peeking out from under her sweaty, unwashed hair, she saw her teacher look at her disapprovingly. It was at that point that she wished for death.

* * *

"Kuroki, it's been three days and you still haven't got the moves down..." The disapproving gym teacher sighed, looking down at Tomoko (Both literally and figuratively).

Tomoko shook like a freezing penguin, nervous sweatdrops racing each other down the back of her head. Why'd she have to be here? It was the end of the day so she should just be able to go home already! She didn't give two hoots about the dance; she just wanted this nightmare to be over.

"I...I'm sorry..." She muttered, not daring to speak her mind to her teachers face.

Ogino-sensei wasn't going to take that for an answer however and marched over to a photocopier, grabbing a few sheets of paper and handing them to her student.

"You've got most of the move down but your rhythm is off," She instructed, thrusting the papers at the girl. "Do you think you can get the dance figured out by tomorrow?"

"Uh...Um...Yes...Yes...Ma'am."

"Good!" Ogino smiled, giving a large thumbs up for good measure. "Do your best Kuroki!" She shouted as the girl turned to leave. "I believe in you!"

 _Go die,_ Tomoko thought to herself, shutting the door and scanning the empty hall, hoping that no one had heard. Her teacher's words sounded encouraging and well-meaning enough but to Tomoko, it felt like she was talking to her like she was nothing more than the worst dancer she'd ever seen.

Come to think of it, she might not be wrong.

* * *

As Tomoko ventured towards home, she couldn't help but notice that there wasn't anyone else walking beside her. Heck, she couldn't even see those bitches and idiot guys that always seemed to be going to karaoke or some new restaurant. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned right out of the gates, thinking about how she was going to complete her homework.

She could, of course just learn the steps at home. That of course, meant that no one would be watching her and she could put the song on using her computer. If all went well, she'd learn them in no time and could spend the rest of the night finishing the last route on that game she was playing. Just the thought of his perfect hair made her face shift colour to a bright pink. On the other hand, her mother was sure to come up and ask about what all the banging was. Not to mention that if she wasn't careful, she'd put a hole in her floor from all the stomping. Heck, she might even fall through and land on her! Then she'd have to cook and clean and wash and iron and do all the chores while her mother lay in a nice, comfy hospital bed!

There was also the option of learning the steps in private, like in an alleyway or something. She wouldn't have the music of course, but she'd at least have some peace and quiet. The only ones who'd pop in on her would be the odd stray cat or something. If one came by, it might call its friends and she'd get a captive audience. Then they might rub themselves against her legs, tripping her up mid-step. That left the risk of her blacking out and bleeding to death from a fall-induced injury. If the blood loss didn't kill her, there was always the risk of infection via cat germs. Even if that didn't happen, there was the chance she'd knock herself into a bin, causing the contents to ooze out and litter the ground. Someone might hear the ruckus and force her to clean up after herself, picking up rotten apple cores, orange peel and used diapers...

"Urgh..." Tomoko groaned, stopping herself from going any further in her fantasy.

That did it: Home it was.

* * *

"So if you hear any banging, it'll just be me practising."

It was a few hours after Tomoko had arrived home. She had meant to start sooner but of course, her feeble mind was distracted by a stray magazine she'd only half-finished. Then, before she knew it, it was time for dinner. After that, she had to lie down on her bed and wait for her meal to digest. She had done a lot of stupid things in her life but at least now, she was wise enough to know that doing heavy exercise after dinner would most likely lead to stomach cramps.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't bang at all."

Tomoki didn't even glance up from his homework, his pencil waltzing across the page, decorating it with symbols, letters and numbers. There was no way he was going to give his sister the satisfaction of getting his attention.

"Fine, fine," Tomoko smiled, getting back into a standing position and heading out of the room. "Just know that these things take time. You play sports too, you understand my struggle."

And with that, she left the room, thankfully having the decency to shut the door behind her. It was at that point that Tomoki forced himself to look up, just to see if she'd actually left.

"I really need to buy a pair of earphones.." He muttered to himself, no one but the people in his numerous posters hearing him.

"Creeeeeeeak. Creeeeeeeeeak."

The future dancer could almost hear her bones creaking like a rusty gate as she stretched them, pulling one arm to the side, followed by the other. This was followed by her stretching one leg out, then the other. She'd never really bothered with warming up before, hence why her stretches were pretty much identical to those of a blue hedgehog in her video games. With great difficulty, she pulled the computer chair up onto the bed, being careful not to crush her controllers into a million tiny, identical pieces. Finally having a space big enough to swing a cat in, she looked at the sheet of paper on the desk, taking it into her tiny, sweaty hand.

 _This should be no problem. I've already had dancing experience after all._ She thought to herself, remembering her expertise at the Kazu dance.

And so, she began to read. Each step seemed simple enough on its own; nothing more energy-consuming than a few slides and waving her hands here and there. Slowly, the mojyo went through each step, just to make sure she could do it.

"Sweep...Spin...Shake the hips...Wave a bit..." Self-narrating her own movements, Tomoko worked through the sheets of paper, doing each move with all the grace of a three-legged elephant.

Still, she was at least doing the right actions. Then came the dreaded final move: the climax that Tomoko had messed up earlier. With new-found confidence, Tomoko closed her eyes, focused her centre of gravity towards her knees, bent down...And pulled a face only a mother could love. What had meant to be a cute wink looked more like she'd been shot in the eye. Her arms were shaking like jelly, the girl trying her hardest to calm them down.

"I...I did it." Tomoko smiled, True, it hadn't been the most graceful of dances but hey, she had to start somewhere. All that dancing had made her thirsty, so the girl strolled downstairs for a well-deserved beverage.

In the fridge, she saw a library of liquids, each one ripe for the taking. There was orange juice, cola, some purple stuff (Maybe Blackcurrant juice?) and a sports drink that obviously belonged to her brother. Not thinking twice, Tomoko snatched the drink from the fridge and let it's refreshing taste tickle her taste buds. She'd been the one doing exercise: Her brother neither needed nor deserved it.

Proudly strolling back upstairs, Tomoko wiped some liquid from her mouth before getting back to work. Doing a few more stretches for good measure, she began to dance again. And again. And again. After a few more tries, she'd finally graduated from three-legged elephant to tired old lady levels of grace. Again, it wasn't much but it was better than nothing. Not that the dancer herself though so; she thought she was good enough to be on stage...

"Hello everyone!~" Came a beautiful voice from atop a brightly-lit stage.

Tomoko, now with bright pink contacts in her eyes, even pinker hair and an outfit so colourful that a clown would blush waved to her adoring fans. Her fellow idols waved too.

No one noticed.

All eyes were on the lead singer of the idol group. A few pigs in the front row tried to scramble up onto the stage only to be stopped by Tomoki the security guard. As the music started, Tomoko, Yuu and that one girl with glasses from middle-school she couldn't remember the name of all began to sing and dance for their fans, their hips shaking this way and that to appease their older, pervier admirers.

During an instrumental break, Tomoko got brave and unleashed her best moves, arms and legs a blur as she boogied her heart out. The audience went wild, their cheers coming to a crescendo when the idol did an amazing backflip across the stage. The trio continued to sing, music blaring and lights flashing. All the men in the crowd wanted them, all the women in the crowd wanted to be them. As the song came to an end, the three struck poses, Tomoko's of course, was the cutest.

The applause was thunderous, the sound of clapping echoing throughout the concert hall. Tomoko, Yuu and Glasses-girl all took a bow and left the stage, the leader of the band doing a little twirl for good measure. Taking their place were a group of idiots and sluts from her class.

"Cha-la! Head cha-la! Nani ga okite mo kibun wa! Heno-heno kappa!"

Their singing was awful.

"Booo!" Screamed the crowd roared in a glorious union. "Get off the stage!"

Tomoki had his work cut out for him as he tried to calm the angry crowd, soon being run over by furious feet. The band on stage screamed and ran for their lives, not even bothering to take their instruments with them.

"Bring back Tomoko!" The crowd demanded. "We want Tomoko! Tomoko! Tomoko!"

"Tomoko! Tomoko!"

Opening her eyes, the girl turned around to find her mother glaring at her from the doorway.

"Are you getting in the bath? Tomoki's just finished."

"Oh...um...Yeah." Tomoko agreed, grabbing a towel.

* * *

The next morning, Tomoko once again made the journey from the comforts of her home to the cold, judgemental environment of school. Normally, she would be in no hurry to get there, her mind basking in the last few moments of freedom before words, numbers and instructions would bombard it, whether it wanted them or not. This time, however, both her mind and eyes were focused on the piece of paper in her hand. Had she memorized the steps correctly? Definitely. She'd spent all of a half-hour practising that night so the mojyo was more than sure that she was ready. She couldn't wait to see the faces of all those sluts, writhing in jealousy as she pulled every step off with nothing but perfection. No excuses now; she was ready for gym class today.

"How was I supposed to know we had gym this early?"

Mentally screaming up a storm, Tomoko followed her classmates to the gym hall. She'd planned to practice again during morning break and lunchtime but once again, life had denied her even the most basic of mercies. How could she have forgotten she'd had gym first thing this morning? Was she really that dumb?

"I can't believe we have to do dancing again..." One of the many females in her class muttered, just within the girl's hearing range.

"I know. I hope I don't mess up..." Another whimpered.

 _SHUT UP!_ Tomoko thought, shooting an icy glare from behind the pair of bimbos. _You're not the ones in serious shit here!_

No. Now was not the time for such remarks. If she could just squeeze a tiny bit more practice in, she might just be able to avoid her gym teacher's wrath. Waiting until she was more than a few feet behind everyone else. Tomoko began.

First, she struck a pose, then she shook her hips slightly, then she spun round and round...Then she fell over.

"BANG!"

The sound of a desperate schoolgirl falling to the cold, hard ground caught everyone's attention.

"Kuroki-san!?"

 _Crap, they're all looking at me!_ Tomoko thought, mentally scolding herself for her accident.

Forcing herself up, Tomoko thought she could just pretend she'd stumbled. The last thing she wanted was for everyone to make a fuss about her. Not like this at least. As she stood up, a sharp, shooting pain emerged from her right heel, sending her back to Earth with much more force than necessary.

"Kuroki, are you ok? Can you stand?"

At this point, Ogino had run over, checking her student for injuries. Hurtling an arm around her, she lifted Tomoko up off the ground.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to the nurse's office." She said.

Letting out nothing but a small squeak, the girl found herself being slowly led away, having no choice but to limp with her one functional foot.

* * *

"She's just twisted her ankle, she'll be fine." The nurse sighed, finishing wrapping a clean bandage around the girl's foot.

"Well, that's a relief," Ogino smiled, giving Tomoko a friendly smile. "You just lie down ok? I'll let you off this time."

"Th...Thank you." The patient muttered, limping over to a bed and pulling the curtain around it, giving herself some privacy.

The good news was that Tomoko didn't have to dance today and she could spend the next hour or so getting some well-deserved rest. The bad news was that all the practice she did was for nought, she couldn't take a step without pain rushing through her body and worst of all, she'd be expected to take a make-up class. Again.

Lying back in her bed, Tomoko closed her eyes and slipped off into an uneasy sleep. She'd settle all of that stuff later; right now she wanted to sleep and escape the world...

"Tomoko! Tomoko! Tomoko!"

The crowd's chants only angrier as time went on. They weren't going to wait any longer for their favourite idol to return. If she didn't come back soon, who knows what would happen?

"Sh...Should we go on?" Glasses-chan muttered.

"I...I don't think we can." Yuu whimpered, gazing down at Tomoko's body. "Mokochii's exhausted."

"We have to try!" Glasses-chan yelled, pulling her fellow idol up and running out the door.

The very moment they left, Tomoko got up off the floor, collapsed into a chair and started to read a magazine that was lying on the nearby table. Outside, the angry cries of fans tried to make their way into her eardrums. She ignored them.

"I hate this job." She sighed.


	4. I'll dodge death!

**Since I'm not popular, I'll dodge death!**

Tomoko was at that point in her life when she was neither a kid or an adult. She was simply stuck somewhere in the middle of the road: The awkward phase known to many as being a teenager. The way she saw it, she was mature enough to play dirty games and know about sex but still young enough that she could get away with being lazy whenever she got the chance. After all, she wasn't a full-fledged adult yet and no one she knew was really relying on her. Her teachers, however, did not share this ideology.

Thus, the girl was forced to spend most of her time inside a large jail cell of a classroom, learning things she didn't give a damn about with students that while innocent and tolerable enough were extremely forgettable. When free time came around, they'd all talk about love or fashion or other things she wasn't interested in. True, Tomoko had managed to befriend one or two of her homeroom friends and she could at least speak to Komi-something and Yuu without throwing up but as far close friends went, she was still stuck with Yuu. It didn't help that Nemo, the one other girl she knew that liked anime refused to talk about it in front of others.

 _She must think she's too good for that kind of thing. What's that mean for me though?_ She thought to herself at least once a week.

Amongst her fantasies of gang-bangs, gaining the powers of a god or simply blowing up the planet, Tomoko had once or twice thought about what life would be like had she been born an animal. Out of all those, daydreams in which she took the role of a housecat, seemed the most appealing to her by far. By day, she'd lounge around the house without any responsibilities, be free to sleep until noon if she so desired and would be waited on hand (Or rather, paw) and foot by a loving owner. By night, she would prowl the neighbourhood, making friends with other felines and living each day to the fullest.

If she had to be a cat, she most likely be a black one. Not only would she look cool and mysterious but it reminded of that nickname she'd tried to give herself in middle school: Kuroneko. She wasn't a furry by any means, but this fantasy had become something of a recurring one. Things like this gave her escape from her everyday life: The wrath of her brother's face-grab, the stress of having hormones racing through her body like race-cars...

The report she had to do tonight.

* * *

Tomoko tried not to think about that as she strolled along the pavement on the way home, once again by herself. Those two other girls she sometimes walked with had been absorbed into a larger group of maidans today, letting her spend some quality time with her thoughts.

"How the hell are you going to get all of this work done?" Her inner voice asked her.

The second-year didn't know the answer to that one.

"Meow."

The truth was, she didn't want to do the assignment at all if she could help it.

"Meow."

She had that new video game to finish and there was that manga she had fallen beh-

"Meow."

 _Ok, what the hell's making that noise?_ Tomoko thought to herself, glancing around.

A fourth and final meowing caught her attention, making the mojyo drop to the ground and glance downwards, eyes already weighed down by the bags she obtained through countless late nights. Right in front of her was a small ginger cat with eyes as green as grass and a tail swishing back and forth behind it. Much as she hated to admit it, Tomoko had a certain fondness for cats: They were easy to talk to and they didn't require you to get up at god-knows-when in the morning to walk them.

Slowly, a thin finger scratched under the cat's chin, digging deep into its soft orange fur. The feline purred happily and obediently lifted its head, allowing for the scratching to be continued. A small blush popping up on the mojyo's face brought with it more scratches, bringing more purrs, which expanded the blush and... You get the idea.

After a time, Tomoko found it within herself to take the cat into her arms, albeit with some caution. With cats, you could never tell whether they wanted to be held or if they were going to scratch your face off should you even try and touch them. Thankfully, this one fell into the former category and let itself to be held.

"Pretty little kitty!~" Tomoko sang, cradling the cat in her arms and rocking it back and forth with a little more force than necessary. It wasn't often that a stray cat didn't want to screech at her and run for the hills so she wanted to take full advantage of this moment.

"Mew..." Whimpered the cat, enjoying the attention.

Tomoko had quite a history with felines. One had kept her company during the fireworks last year, another had given her a pat on the head when she craved it and then there was the pair that had sex right in front of her. True, they weren't having sex for her amusement but still...

"Wait here." Tomoko smiled, placing the cat down and walking towards a nearby convenience store. The feline tried to follow but Tomoko wasn't having any of that. She bent down and pointed right at the mammals face.

"STAY." She commanded.

The tiny creature froze, sitting down obediently. Getting up with a small groan, Tomoko made her way towards the store.

* * *

The doors parted ways with a faint "Ding!", allowing for the girl to enter the building. She knew she had to act fast, lest the cat run off somewhere. Browsing the shelves, Tomoko wondered what she would buy for the feline. She'd fed half a rice-ball to the one at the fireworks and as for as she knew, he was fine. Not wanting to take a chance, she went over to the aisle where they were usually situated, only to find it empty.

 _Some fatso must have bought them all!_

That left the question of what else she could feed it. Racking her brains, Tomoko tried her best to remember what cats on TV ate. She'd never actually owned one of these animals but if it wasn't from a cartoon, she'd be fine.

 _I could give it milk...But I don't have a saucer. I suppose I could try Fish._

That sounded like a plan. She'd seen people on TV feed real cats fish and cartoon ones couldn't get enough of the stuff.

As if by magic, Tomoko bumped right into an aisle full of cold food. Clutching her nose, the girl looked up to see an ample collection of fish, resting in a large cold box to keep it fresh. Scanning the food, she tried to decide what to give her new friend. Trout? Cod? Kipper?

"What the hell's a kipper?"

Reading the packaging, Tomoko soon found out. Apparently, it was a cooked herring commonly enjoyed in a place called "Scotland" and could be cooked in the microwave rather easily. And what was that in the corner of the store?!

Plucking the packet out of the cold, Tomoko quickly strolled over to the cashier, thanking her graces that it was a rather plain looking woman instead of an attractive man. True, she'd made progress in composing herself in front of the opposite sex but she still didn't want to take any chances.

* * *

"I can't believe how much this was..." Tomoko mumbled as she left the store, the hot, smelly fish wrapped in a small paper bag.

Wandering out of the store, she found the cat still sat there, licking its small paw. Carefully, the girl took the fish out of the paper bag and placed it on top of it, as if she were dishing it onto a plate. It smelt like an unwashed trash can and as far she was concerned, probably tasted like one too. The cat didn't seem to think so. In fact, it was gobbling the fish up in record time! Something had to be said for table manners but still, it seemed to think the world of it.

Before long, the kipper was nothing more than a few bones and scraps scattered across the paper.

"Good boy." Tomoko smiled, scratching the kitty under the chin with her clean hand. "Or girl?"

Lifting the cat, she stared down at its crotch for a brief second.

"Girl."

* * *

Tomoko was still thinking about the cat the next day at school. Most of the time, she'd be imagining something burning down to cinders or a harem of attractive gentlemen of all shades, heights and waistlines all lusting over her but today, the cat was the one thing on her mind. Even though she had terrible taste in food and had made her hand stink all the way home, she did look rather cute.

"Maybe I'll see her again today..." Tomoko thought. "If it's a stray, I should at least give it a name."

She knew that her mother wouldn't allow a street animal in the house but she could always have it as a secret companion. The cat might even repay her in kind with a dead bird or something.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

And who should walk into the room but Yoshida, the class delinquent? Her usual look of indifference was not there, being replaced by a cocktail of a frown and the look of a devastated girl. Silently, she took her place at her desk, shaking like someone trying not to cry.

 _What's up with her?_ Tomoko thought.

She'd never, ever seen Yoshida look so pathetic. Heck, she didn't think she had any other emotions aside from indifference and anger. Maybe she got kicked out of her gang? Perhaps someone close to her died? Whatever the case was, Tomoko couldn't help but stare.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

Oops, she'd been too careless. Quickly, Tomoko yanked her phone out of her pocket and stared deep into the screen to avoid Yoshida's glare. If looks could kill, she had enough power to become a mass-murderer.

Tomoko spent the rest of the morning and most of her break staring over at Yoshida. She didn't dare talk to her: With a mood like that, she'd most likely beat her into a coma. Still, she wondered what had gotten her so wiled up. Theories began to flood her head, ranging from somewhat plausible ideas such as her pet dying to obscure, completely ridiculous ones such as her house burning down. Come to think of it, if that WAS the case, would she even be at school today?

"Kuroki-san?"

"Huh!?"

Snapping back to reality, Tomoko looked up from her packed lunch to see Yuri and Mako looking at her.

"You spaced out again." Yuri sighed, stuffing an octopus hot dog into her mouth.

"O-Oh, right." Tomoko stuttered, laughing a little.

"Is something funny?"

"Oh, no... I'm gonna go wash my face."

And before either of the girls could stop her, Tomoko marched out of the classroom and into the empty hallway.

"Great, now I've just embarrassed myself..." She thought.

Come to think of it, what was she doing, thinking about the delinquent so much? It wasn't her problem after all. Heck, if she tried butting in, she'd most likely choked to death. Yoshida DID have strong hands after all. That was when she decided that she wouldn't think about it anymore.

"Yoshida-san, is something the matter?"

What?!

Tomoko dived into the girl's bathroom, keeping the door opened by a crack just so she could see. Peeking her eye out, she caught Yoshida and another girl, most likely one of her friends, walking down the hallway together.

"It... It's nothing."

"Come on, tell me!"

"Alright..."

This was it, the moment of truth. Tomoko kept her ears peeled and hung onto the door for dear life. She'd never hear the end of it if she were discovered snooping.

"My cat...had to go to the vet last night. She ate something weird while she was out and she spent the whole night throwing up. Thankfully, it was nothing serious but..."

To her surprise, the mojyo saw the delinquent girl shed a tear, wiping it away with her sleeve before it even left her tear duct.

"I see...Well, I..."

Silently, Tomoko shut the door.

She was in DEEP trouble now. If what she thought was true, then she'd been the one who poisoned her cat! If Yoshida found out, she'd have her skinned alive in five seconds flat! Either that or buried alive. Heck, she might even call her delinquent friends to smash all her house's windows! She had to have a gang, right? She'd be just the person to do something like that!

No, it'd be ok. If she kept quiet, it'd be the perfect crime. Composing herself, Tomoko opened the door and walked out. The delinquent girl and her friend were gone, she was safe. For now, anyway. The only problem was that she'd forgotten to wash her face, evident by the small particles of rice that hung on her cheeks for dear life.

* * *

After a mostly uneventful afternoon, Tomoko was glad to be in the sanctuary of her own home. Nothing bad ever happened to her here. Well, most of the time at least. Sighing to herself, the girl spread herself out on her bed, her face planted firmly into her pillow, a small river of drool running down onto her sheets. True, she was safe for now but there was just one problem. Just one tiny, insignificant problem: She had to go back to school tomorrow!

It was only a matter of time before that girl found out what she'd done; either through investigation, Tomoko cracking under months of pressure or simply her jumping to conclusions. She'd had been choked by Yoshida several times before. True, none of those instances had left any scars (mental or otherwise) but those were just over trivial things such as accidentally grabbing her crotch or making her take the fall for something she did back at the hotel some time ago. If that delinquent found out that she'd killed her cat she might as well dig her own grave and write a will. It'd save that violent beast of a girl the bother of writing a slapdash one to cover up the murder. Although, she might not even use it and just throw her corpse into the river. Turning Tomoko into a buffet for the wildlife there would be one last slap in the face. There had to be a way to avoid that fate.

There was always the idea of running away. That would allow her to escape punishment entirely and give her a sense of freedom beyond anything she'd felt before. She'd be just like that red-headed girl, stealing apples and sweets to survive. She wouldn't even have to worry about dying in a battle with a witch since those didn't even exist! It was a good plan, a great plan even, until she accounted for her mother. If that woman knew she'd run away, she'd have half the police in the country on high-alert. Sooner or later, she'd be brought back home, kicking and screaming. If that delinquent didn't finish her off, her mother most certainly would...

She could play sick; she hadn't done that in a good while so her mother may believe her. It could work but it would only net her a few days off at best, then she'd have to face the beast herself. She could take martial art classes so if push came to shove, she could resist somewhat and perhaps escape a fight with her life. Then again, she'd read it took years to get anywhere with stuff like that. Knowing that girl, she'd find out within a year and then box her black and blue, regardless of how many hours she'd spent getting hot and sweaty in a set of white pyjamas.

But if she couldn't escape her punishment and she couldn't fight back, she could always soften the blow. Grabbing her purse, Tomoko strolled downstairs and out of the house, heading for town. If she feigned sympathy and gave that girl a few gifts, then maybe, just maybe, she'd let her live.

* * *

The next morning, Tomoko couldn't stop herself shaking. If all went well, she'd manage to get off with just a few bruises. If it didn't, she'd end up six feet under. Slowly descending the stairs for what could be the last time, Tomoko gripped the bannister as hard as she could, as if she'd fall down the wooden hill at any second.

"Eh? Tomoko, are you ok?"

Staring up at her mother with eyes that trembled almost as much as her body, the girl smiled. At least, she tried to. It wasn't genuine and it looked more like she was going to start crying but she was doing her best.

"Y... Yeah..." She mumbled and went over to the breakfast table.

Tomoki, also dressed for school, was halfway done with his breakfast. Before starting on her own, his sister leaned in close, her lips nearly touching his ear.

"I love you, brother."

Leaning back, Tomoko smiled at her little brother. There he was: young, full of life, that disapproving look he always had plastered on his face. Normally, she would have paid no notice to his facial features but impending death always made people look at things in a different light.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tomoko simply gave her brother a wink as she started on her toast. Oh, how she'd miss him. Still, if she did die, he'd better give a good speech at her funeral.

* * *

The walk to school had been mostly uneventful like it had been for the past year and a bit. As the girl sat down on her chair, a small plastic bag fell over. Gasping, she lifted it by the handles to see if anything had smashed. Thankfully, nothing had broken. She couldn't remember how much this gift had cost her but she did remember taking the good part of an hour to pick it out. All that was missing was...

There she was.

Yoshida seemed to be a slightly better mood than she had been in the day before. The look on her face was once again the one of indifference that she usually wore, instead of the sullen, disappointed one she had the day before. As she sat down at her seat, Tomoko saw her opportunity. It was now or never.

"Uh...Um...Hey."

Yoshida looked up from the pencil she was twirling on her fingers. Standing before her was an ugly, trembling classmate with a waterfall of sweat dripping down her forehead. She was twitching like mad, as if she was going to explode any second like a time bomb.

"Yeah?"

Quickly, Tomoko thrust the small, pink bag at her classmate, almost hitting her in the face. Yoshida didn't flinch and simply took the bag from her. It was mostly empty, save for a small box-like object inside. She thrust a hand in, fingers rubbing over it for a brief second before plucking it out.

It was a box full of tiny rubber animals, each with cheeks pinker than a peach and a little smile on their face. From what she could see in the transparent box they were encased in, each of them had a little hole at the bottom.

"You…Err, put them on your pencils."

Tomoko studied the other females face carefully, trying to pick out her reaction. She didn't seem displeased but she wasn't smiling either. Wait... she was! She was actually grateful!

"Huh, thanks."

Yoshida put a little monkey on the end of her pencil and slid the box into her bag. Tomoko would have called her out for not using all of her present right away but right now she was happy just to be breathing.

"There's a card too..."

Reaching inside the plastic bag one last time, Yoshida picked up a small white envelope. It only took her a second to tear it open, the noise making the other girl shudder like she was tearing apart a human spine. Shielded by the envelope was a card with a snow-white background and a tiny black cat looking up at her. Its small green eyes seemed to stare right into Yoshida's heart, evident by her blush.

Flipping open the card, she found a small message inside:

I'm sorry about your cat.

-Tomoko

There was a silence. A brief, second-long silence. Despite how short it was, it felt like it lasted a lifetime. Then, the blonde girl turned to Tomoko, who promptly shuddered.

"How did you know about my cat?"

Crap. She hadn't imagined her saying that. The next few seconds were precious: She could either bullshit her way out of this, run for dear life or tell her truth. The first option would be easiest, the second was the safest and third one was the right thing to do.

Of course, she chose the first option.

"I heard it from your friend."

"What?! She told you?!"

"Sh... She just thought that you needed someone else to talk about it with. A problem sha...Shared is a problem halved after all..."

The delinquent opened her mouth, only to close it.

"I... I guess you're right," she mumbled, looking at Tomoko like she was a dear friend. "Besides, Haruka's going to be ok."

"Who?"

"My cat."

Bringing out her phone, Yoshida showed the other girl a picture of the cat in question. It had bright green eyes like the stray but it's fur was brown with the odd white spot littering it's body. Plus, it looked a lot bigger than the kitten Tomoko had seen the other day.

It was like the weight of a thousand sins had been lifted off her chest as a wave of relief washed over the innocent girl. She wasn't even sure if this was the work of a god or simple luck but right now, she'd be equally happy with either.

"I'm glad she got better."

 _And that I didn't do it_. She thought to herself.

"Thanks."

Yoshida smiled at Tomoko. Perhaps she'd misjudged her after all. Sure, she was a pervert with little to no shame but she didn't seem like an awful person. Maybe she'd been a little too harsh on her over the past year? Heck, they could even build their relationship up from just "classmates" to an actual bond!

"Of course, it's pretty stupid how one little bite of food can make a cat sick."

And at that moment, all positive feelings that Yoshida had towards her vanished from this dimension; Tomoko had sealed her fate.

"What did you say?!"

With near-superhuman levels of strength, the blonde girl had picked up Tomoko by the collar and held her in a choking position, months of practise on her side. She didn't even have a chance to resist, her fate of being shaken like a rag-doll being one that could not, won't not be stopped. The poor girl tried to wriggle free, only for the delinquent to grip tighter. Her face turned a horrifying shade of blue, oxygen escaping her body to get away from Yoshida's wrath.

"I…I'm sorry…" She coughed.

From the other side of the classroom, Mako and Yuri watched the fight unfold, none of them looking particularly bothered.

"I'd better go stop them." Yuri sighed, getting up to once again break them up.

* * *

(And if you think Tomoko was suffering now, wait until Yoshida finds out she was lying about how she found out about her cat…)


	5. I'll make a cake!

**Since I'm not popular, I'll make a cake!**

Tomoki stuffed his water bottle into his gym bag, pulling it closed with a fierce tug. Today was the last game of the season; a high-stakes match against another school. He'd been training for this day for months now, there was no denying that he was ready. The feeling of victory would be great, it'd make all the early mornings, extra training and corn plasters worth the while. Nothing could disturb him now, he needed complete quiet, so he could focus. Every second mattered.

"Watcha doing little brother?"

Too bad he wasn't going to get it.

"I'm off to practise, stay out of my room." Tomoki sighed, pushing past his sister as he left the room, bothering just enough to return her gaze.

Tomoko watched as her brother rather rudely stomped down the stairs, barely giving her the pleasure of eye contact. Huffing, she followed him down the wooden hill.

"It's the last game of the season, right? Feeling confident?"

Tomoki didn't respond exactly, rather he just gave an affirmative "Mmm". He was surprised that his sister kept up with his games, though he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. Either she genuinely cared about him or her life was so boring that she had nothing better to do with her time, which she seemed to have a lot of.

"I'm heading out," Tomoki announced as he opened the door. He was about to shut it behind him when he felt a small, warm hand touching his own, holding the door open.

"Don't worry, little brother." Tomoko smiled, looking up at her sibling. "Even if you lose, I'll still love you."

And with that, she closed the door, giving him a little wave as he made his way down the path.

Tomoko smiled even as she closed the door. Her little brother was trying so hard ever since he had arrived at high school. True, he had his faults, such as refusing to talk to her most of the time and being ten times more popular than she'd ever been in her first year, but it was kind of her fault in the first place. If only she'd posted that letter…

Even though he had insisted that it had only made his job of choosing schools easier, Tomoko still felt the tiniest, smallest, most minuscule feeling of guilt. She'd even snapped at him once he'd refused her apology. What kind of school would he be attending had she not messed up? She didn't know. She did feel happy that he wasn't accepted to some posh, top-notch school though, that would have made her feel even worthless: being outclassed by her own sibling. Her YOUNGER sibling no less.

Still, she did feel like she owed him something, even if it was just to make herself feel better. Just a small, intimate favour to break even. It had to be something small or he'd just think she was trying too hard. Her wallet was mostly empty from playing arcade games anyway, she couldn't go big even if she wanted to. Then, she had an idea. A small, pleasant idea that would make anyone smile: She'd bake him a cake.

Unfortunately, her next thought was the reminder that she'd never actually made one in her life, at least not one that she remembered. She'd been taking home economics in school for a while now, yet she'd never cooked anything as sweet as a plain biscuit. Rather than use the food supplies on edible goodies, they'd been coaxed into making things such as chicken legs and more types of curry than she could even count. Most of her attempts were mediocre at best and had made their way into the nearest bin as soon as she'd taken a bite or two.

* * *

Giving up, Tomoko set off towards the local supermarket, wrapped up in a large jacket to shield herself from the oncoming cold. Since she had little to no baking experience outside of mandatory school lessons and didn't have much time on her hands, she decided the next best thing would be to use a bag of ready-made cake mix. It wasn't exactly cheating since she would technically be doing baking, even if it was only a little bit. Her brother would never know the difference.

She was about to head to the check-out when she passed a box of icing sugar. Backing up, she reluctantly grabbed it and tucked it under her arm. If she was going to do this, she might as well do it properly after all.

And while she was at it, she might as well grab some food colouring.

* * *

Returning home, Tomoko dumped her plastic bag of ingredients onto the kitchen worktop. As well as the trio of foodstuffs, she'd also picked up a duo of chocolate button packets (Both white and milk) and a small box of eggs, just in case she didn't have any stockpiled in her fridge. Rolling up her sleeves, she let the tap water warm her ailing hands, before drying them on some kitchen roll. Getting out a large bowl and cake tin, she followed the instructions of the cake mix to the letter, trying her best not to lose faith in herself. If her mother saw her, she'd never hear the end of it.

"What kind of girl doesn't know how to make something as simple as a cake?" She'd probably moan.

 _Shut up, Mum…_ Tomoko thought to herself, placing a duo of cake tins into the family's oven. It'd only taken her a few minutes to prepare the mixture, yet she felt like she'd accomplished something half-decent. It'd been the most productive thing she'd done all day anyway. The cake would be ready in about 15 minutes, which gave her just enough time to do the washing up, which glared at her from the other side of the kitchen. It wasn't too much, she could easily wash it all, then start on her icing, no problem.

Unless…

"Hey, wanna help me put on my sunscreen?"

Tomoko blushed as she rubbed sunscreen over her virtual husband's body, gasping slightly each time he moaned. The small group of dishes in the sink having been forgotten, Tomoko had busied herself with her portable games console and the much more interesting world it contained.

"Hey, is that the new perfume I bought you?" Crooned the man. "It really does smell like cake, huh?"

"Oh…Why thank you…" Tomoko smiled, giggling to herself.

Then, she frowned. Speaking of cake, shouldn't hers be ready by now?

Strolling over to the counter to check the timer, she found it still stuck at 0:15.

 _Ok, that's odd. Did I forget to turn it on? Shit!_

Flinging open the oven door, Tomoko slammed on a pair of oven gloves and dragged the cakes out of the oven. The girl lost her footing, stumbled into the kitchen counter and let out a swear, dropping the cake tins onto the counter, both thankfully landing right side up.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Tomoko inspected the cakes. They were slightly singed at the edges but still edible. The girl smiled to herself as she grabbed a knife out of the drawer and began to cut one of the cakes out of the tins. Then, she once again donned the oven clothes and tried to tip the first one out of its comfy hidey-hole.

It didn't budge.

Groaning, Tomoko tipped it upside down and began to smack the bottom of the tin with her palm. The cake slid about a fraction of the way out with each hit.

 _Urgh… Move already!_

Forgetting any sense of common sense, Tomoko began shaking the cake tin up and down. Faster and faster the delicacy moved, sliding out further and further….

Until it landed upside-down on the counter with not a thud or a plop but a rather quiet, unassuming squish.

Not wanting to spend the rest of her day gently coaxing out her creation, Tomoko gave up all elegance and began to shake the second tin like a giant can of soda. The second cake followed suit. Tomoko grinned and shoved the two of them onto separate plates, the idea that she should have maybe greased the cake tins before trying to bake in them apparently lost on her.

It only took another minute to mix the icing sugar with some water and lather the solution onto the top of one of the cakes. The bottom cake instead got a generous topping of Strawberry jam. Forcefully pushing the icing-topped cake on top of the other, she finished by showering a good portion of the buttons over the top.

Tomoko stared at her creation. It was no beauty, but it DID look edible. Surely, that was the most important thing. Now, how to get it to her brother? Having it sitting here was surely no way to go: it needed to be eaten ASAP to prevent it getting stale. She'd just have to take it to him.

Scrounging the cupboards like a rat looking for food, Tomoko found a decent sized box and put the half-assed cake into it. The box itself was fine; the lid, on the other hand, refused to co-operate and didn't fit right, mostly due to the mediocre treat being too tall. It just hung about on top, balancing on the cake. She'd just have to make do with how it was.

She wasn't expecting her brother to be eternally grateful or anything like that, but the girl hoped that he would at least appreciate the good gesture as a sign of genuine affection. Maybe then she'd be able to a decent conversation with him once in a while. She didn't really rely on him as her sole means of conversation anymore, but it would be nice for him to actually want to talk to her. So far, the only times he came to talk to her was when she'd eaten his food or taken one of his things without asking.

Tomoko walked to the hallway and very carefully put the box down on the ground. She was just about to put her shoes on when she had a thought. An awful, realistic thought. If she brought the cake outside, she'd just be exposing it to all kinds of dangers: She could drop it, the lid might blow off in the wind, some bird might even do a crap on it! It'd be much better if she simply kept it here as a surprise for her brother. That would ensure that nothing bad ever happened to it.

Thanking herself for that decision, Tomoko picked up the cake and brought it back into the kitchen with her. It'd be much better to wait it out anyways, build the tension or whatever. In fact, she could even add a few party favours to make the celebration extra special!

 _I'm sure we had a few party poppers around here somewhere..._

* * *

"I'm home!"

Tomoki was not a happy bunny. Not only had they had lost 2-0 to the opposite team but he'd also sprained his ankle during a tackle that would have made any spectator cringe. Right now, he just wanted to get changed and rest, if his idiot of a sister would be kind enough to let him. Ascending the stairs, Tomoki listened. The house was silent. His sister was probably either on her computer or had gone out. Somehow, he thought the former was more likely

As soon as she heard the half-hearted cry of her brother, Tomoko smiled. She hadn't managed to find any of those party poppers but had found a slightly crumpled party hat in one of the drawers, tucked away beneath a mountain of pots and pans. How it'd got there was anyone's guess. She'd also considered added candles but had decided not to, as to avoid the image of trying too hard.

 _Cake mix isn't easy anyways. I could have cut myself on the electric mixer after all…_

Removing the box lid and pulling on the horrid hat, Tomoko started her venture up the all-too-familiar flight of stairs.

Inside her destination, a disappointed young man was situated at his desk, staring into the depths of space The game was still fresh in his mind, each goal, tackle and failure still running through his head, the boy unable to stop them. What if he had ran a bit faster? He was sure he could have scored had he only focused a bit more. The main source of his power, his sister's annoying habits were starting to run dry. Most days he would be thankful but since she hadn't been bugging him as much, he'd had less hatred of her and such, less drive.

 _Could it be that she's maturing?_

Frustrated, he kicked his legs back and forth underneath his table, swinging them like pendulums to help himself think. This went on for all of a few seconds when he hit the wall, with his twisted foot no less.

"Graaaah!"

A sharp cry of pain echoed throughout the house. Tomoko, not expecting the commotion, almost jumped in surprise. In that moment of weakness, her hands began to wobble, the cake in her hands jittering this way and that. The girl tried her best to regain control only for the box to land on the ground, face down.

She could only watch as the cake that she'd spent all of a half-hour slaving lay there, icing splattered over the floor. She wanted to scream. She wanted to shout. She wanted to take that damn cake and throw it right at her brother's face, blame him for ruining her day's work…

But she didn't. Instead, Tomoko took the cake back into the box without a word and moved back downstairs to the kitchen, ignoring the snow-white icing stain on the floor. She'd clean that up later.

Hearing the noise from outside, Tomoki looked up, still rubbing his foot half injured by his game and half from his own carelessness. He almost wanted to stand up, go outside and find out what was going on, that is until he realised that his sister was out there. If he went out there, he'd only find encourage her in whatever scheme she was doing. That was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

Before he knew it, his sister had entered his room, once again without permission. Cradled in her thin arms was a rather plain looking sponge cake. It didn't terrible per say but there seemed to be a large crater on top, the entire top surface of the cake having been cut into to reveal the soft, pale insides at all angles. Inside said crater lay a mound of chocolate buttons, haphazardly placed without care or caution.

"I made a cake." She said as if that weren't obvious enough for him to grasp.

"Where's the icing?"

"Ah…See, it kinda fell so…I had to improvise." She smiled, stumbling slightly but soon regaining that false "Awesome big sister" attitude that he'd grown to dislike.

She thrust the treat straight at him, almost hitting him in the face with rigid plastic. He backed away slightly, taking a closer look at it. Against his better nature, he accepted the strange gift from her, placing it down on his neat desk.

"Thanks, I guess."

He'd half expected her to leave after that but as always, she wasn't finished speaking.

"Do you want me to get some plates? We can have tea parties like we used to."

Tomoki thought for a moment. Right now, he wanted to tell her to get lost. She seemed oblivious to his pain, annoyingly so in fact. Still, she'd gone to the trouble to make him something, so he might as well take her up. If he refused, she might even use this as some sort of blackmail in the future, after all, he could just hear it now:

"Oh really? How about the time I painstakingly made you a cake and you outright refused my tea party offer? What kind of brother turns down a chance to spend time with his younger sister?!" She'd squeal at any opportunity where he'd dare to try and seize something that she wanted. It wouldn't be the first time she'd use a past event against him.

"Sure." He muttered, his face sticking with the same indifferent expression he always seemed to wear.

With that, she finally turned and left the room, even if it was only for a short respite. Tomoki returned his attention to the cake laid out in front of him

Something about the cake reeked of desperation; while he was grateful for it, it wasn't as if she'd done it purely from the kindness of her heart. There had to be an ulterior motive, even if it was just a minor thing, like trying to seek forgiveness or just get on his good side.

Sighing to himself, the boy turned to see his sister return with two plates and a knife

"Would you like to cut the cake?" She smiled, sitting down on the carpet.

Bringing the cake with him, Tomoki joined his sister and began to slice through the fluffy treat. Looking up, he could see a small smile on his sister's face, not the prideful "I told you so!" smile she usually presented to him but a genuine one. He couldn't believe it was happening, but he smiled back. It wasn't a big smile but just like his sibling, it was genuine.

 _I guess she can be nice when she wants to be._ He thought to himself.


	6. Adventure awaits!

**Since I'm not popular, adventure awaits!**

Tomoko should have been in bed an hour ago.

For once, she'd promised herself that she'd go to bed at a somewhat reasonable time and yet here she was, playing the JRPG that had been consuming her soul for the past week. Every moment of her seemingly infinite free-time (When school wasn't involved) revolved around fighting demons, getting bounty and saving a handsome bishonen from an evil dragon.

The game allowed her to create the cast members as she saw fit so of course, she had made herself a black mage and created three extremely handsome male sidekicks to assist her in battle.

 _I wonder if they'll have swimsuit DLC, like that emblem game_ The gamer wondered on a daily basis.

Her eyes begging for a break, Tomoko granted them mercy and looked out of the window. The endless blackness of night was currently being invaded by streams of light from the streetlamps outside. The sound of a dog barking echoed through the window.

 _Maybe I should call it a day…_ The game addict thought to herself. I mean, it's not like I have to be up early tomorrow… _Still, it's really late._

With all the free time she had on her hands, she had managed to get to the final area rather easily. The final boss was anything but far off now.

Tomoko shut off her system and made a noise that sounded like a bear being put through a blender. Sleep was catching up on her; much as he tried to resist, she was being pulled into the land of nod. Slowly, her crust-filled eyes began to close, her portable console falling out of her limp hand. Finally, she was asleep.

* * *

"Hey…"

What was that? Was that her sweet prince calling her? Dreams full of handsome men were nothing new to her; the only question was which one it could be. Would it be her senpai, who wanted to confess his feelings before graduation?

"Wake up…"

Or maybe it was the rock star who would invite her backstage, tie her up with a set of headphones and…

"Moko-chii?! Moko-chii, please!"

What the hell? Yuu-chan!?

Well, as long as it was her, it was ok. Maybe tonight's fantasy would involve getting with her best friend's ex. It was naughty, in fact, it was the very definition of 'Betrayal'. But still, she'd welcome it with open arms; the real Yuu-chan didn't have to know after all.

Slowly, she felt her eyes open. Staring up at her was a blonde young woman, a good deal taller than her. She was clad in brown shorts and a leather jacket, her rather small rack pressing against a tank top. Two large gauntlets clung for dear life on her hands. As her blurry vision began to clear, Tomoko couldn't help but recognise her face. In fact, it looked sort of like-

 _The delinquent!?_

Tomoko felt herself sit upright before scuttling away on her hands and feet like some sort of giant spider. She kept crawling until she hit a large boulder, her head hitting it with a loud 'THUNK!'.

"M-Moko-chii! Are you ok?"

Yuu-chan, who was currently clad in a white nun uniform, ran over to her teammate.

"You were knocked out, so I cast a revival spell on you. Are you dizzy? Can you stand?"

Suddenly, Tomoko knew all too well what was going on. Not content with consuming her waking life, the game had somehow crawled its way into her subconscious and invaded her dreams! It all made sense: The rough ruins where she was currently situated, the fact that she was wearing the same purple robe her avatar wore in-game, her teammates being a white mage and martial artist (Appearances notwithstanding)…

The only question was, who was the warrior? She swore she had one inside the game.

"GRRRRAAAAAHHH!"

Right on cue, her brother crashed into the boulder beside hers, splitting it open like a chestnut. Clad in red armour, he managed to push himself upwards, pulling his sword out of the rock.

"Are you three done yet? I've been holding this thing off for ages now!"

"What thing?"

Yoshida gave the black mage a shake, rocking her lightweight body back and forth with more force than mandatory. Any faster and the mojyo would get whiplash.

"Get it together, idiot!" She shouted. "We're so close to rescuing Prince Apple!"

Before Tomoko could reply, a deafening roar shook the battlefield as a large green dragon soared into view. It had three heads, a tail with four spikes sticking out and a wingspan that would put a jumbo-jets to shame. She'd read enough of Famitsu to know what it was: Coopah, the final boss!

A lump travelled up its tunnel of a throat, its cheeks puffing out like a hamster.

"Run!" Screamed Yuu, who quickly picked up Tomoko and hid behind an intact pillar.

Tomoki and Yoshida followed, just in time to avoid a fireball slamming into their makeshift shield and blowing it to smithereens.

Rock and ash flew everywhere. A few particles flew into the group's eyes and mouth, initiating a coughing fit among them.

"I…Is everyone all right?" Yuu asked, getting a symphony of groans in return.

Another lump was travelling up the beast's throat. Tomoko knew what she had to do; she'd played this game enough times to know all the attacks off by heart.

"Hydro stream!"

Pointing her wooden stick towards the dragon, an orb of water materialised at the tip. Soon enough, a wide beam of liquid was launched towards the foul beast. It disintegrated the fireball and hit the dragon in the face, knocking it off balance.

"Stop the beam, you'll waste your MP!" Tomoki commanded.

"Don't we have any MP potions?!" Tomoko spat, cutting off her attack.

Yuu-chan scratched her chin, a blush of embarrassment filling her face.

"Um… I used the last one to bring you back to life, Moko-chii."

 _What?! So now it's my fault we're going to get our asses kicked?! If that's the case, I'd be better off staying dead!_

Once the attack subsided, the dragon let out another mighty roar. Instead of unleashing another blast of flame, it decided that physical contact was the answer. It launched its mighty body at the quartet, forcing them to scatter. Tomoki, Yoshida and Yuu managed to dodge unscathed. Tomoko, on the other hand, got hit by the beast's mighty wingspan and was knocked to the ground.

"Mokochii, are you ok?!"

Yuu ran over and helped her friend up off the ground. The black mage wasn't hurt too badly. At least, she didn't feel any pain. Without a floating health bar above her head, it was hard to tell how much energy she had left.

"I…I'm fine, I'm fine," Tomoko said. "How the hell do we take this thing down?"

"No idea," Tomoki answered. "It seems to be immune to magic and none of us can get close enough to attack it."

"It must be weak to physical damage then!"

Everyone turned to look at the black mage but then remembered that a harbinger of doom was looming above them. All of them jumped away just in time to avoid a foot-stomp attack, the ground shaking under the lizard's sole.

"I'll go keep this bastard busy," Yoshida volunteered. "You come up with a plan."

"Right, be careful," Tomoki commanded.

The martial artist gave a thumbs-up before racing off towards the dragon.

"Oi! Try picking on me!" She bellowed, drawing the beast's attention from the group.

* * *

While the dragon tried to turn her into a human pancake, the trio scampered under a pile of rocks for shelter.

"So, it's weak to physical attacks?" Tomoki asked again.

"It must be. Unless it's built like a tank, most enemies immune to magic can't stand physical moves," Tomoko explained. Hours upon hours of slashing demons and burning slimes were finally coming to play here. "If we can land a good physical attack on it, we can pummel it into submission afterwards."

At least, she hoped they could. The whole turn-based mechanic of the game had been thrown out the window, so moving of their own accord wouldn't be an issue. She knew that this was nothing more than a dream and yet somehow, she was determined to win.

"But it's always in the air! How are we supposed to reach it?"

None of them had an answer to that one. Before any could put on their thinking caps, a sharp cry of pain rang throughout the battlefield.

"Yoshida-san!" Yuu cried. "You're bleeding!"

"It…It's nothing," The martial artist whimpered, lumbering towards them. "How do we beat this guy?"

All eyes were on Tomoko now. Ignoring the painful memories of being the field trip's group leader, she explained her plan again, but in much less detail.

"We gotta stab a sword in that thing!"

"Sounds good to me," Yoshida said. "And I think I know how we're gonna do it."

Before Tomoko knew what was going on, she found herself being plucked off the ground by the delinquent, held bridal style of all things. Her black hat was knocked off and replaced by Tomoki's horned helmet.

"Naruse, you have a fire-proof spell, right?"

"Um…Yes?"

"Great, use it on her."

"Wait, what the hell are you-"

Tomoko's words were cut off by Yuu-chan pointing her long staff to her face. With a chant of "Incombustible", an orange aura surrounded the girl. Without so much as a 'Thank you', Yoshida sprinted forward, holding Tomoko tightly in her arms.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The smaller female managed to splutter, in between her teammate dodging blasts of flame and jumping between pillars of stone.

Yoshida didn't answer. Instead, she bent her legs down before launching into the sky like a missile. With a mighty swing, Tomoko was sent flying towards the dragon head-first. The air resistance was thicker than she would have liked, stopping her from moving any of her body parts. All she could do now was scream. Loudly.

"GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The green reptile launched another orb of fire, desperate to stop her from making contact. To his displeasure, Tomoko broke through the ball like it was made of wet toilet paper, shooting towards the beast's chest…

And just like that kid with the monkey tail, the human tore right through the monster's chest, a large hole appearing right where she'd made contact.

Both fell to the ground helplessly, one stunned by pain, the other by pure adrenaline pumping through her slender body. There wasn't a drop of blood to be seen; the dream's inspiration was rated 'A' after all.

The dragon hit the ground with more force than a meteor, sending shockwaves creating a miniature earthquake. Tomoko was spared the beast's fate, being caught by the very same person that sent her flying in the first place.

"You alright?" Yoshida said.

Tomoko didn't reply until she felt her feet return to solid ground.

"I…I'm fine."

While this was going on, Tomoki delivered a final blow to the dragon's neck with his sword, the beast soon fading into non-existence. With the threat gone, everyone collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"Is…Is it over?" Panted Yuu.

"Yeah… At last…" Tomoki replied.

While everyone else at least sat upright, Tomoko had completely laid herself down on the earth. Compared to the others, she wasn't nearly as tired (She'd barely done anything after all) but after being hurled through a dragon's abdomen, she needed some time to recover.

"Isn't there something we had to do?" Yuu asked.

There was. They still had to rescue the prince from his tower. So far, this game had hit every cliché in the book; a kiss from the damsel was pretty much guaranteed at this point. Tomoko closed her eyes and imagined him in all his glory: Short brown hair flowing in the wind, eyes like emeralds freshly picked from the ground, arms so slender they could fit around her body…

Meanwhile, in the real world, everyone stared at the blushing, giggling mess that was their black mage.

"Is…Is she ok?" Yuu asked.

Tomoki looked at her with utmost disgust. Where was a bucket of water when he needed one?

"She'll be fine," He muttered, kicking her stomach.

Whether he'd forgotten he was wearing heavy boots was up for debate but in either case, Tomoko woke up sharpish, a puddle of drool beside her.

"Get up already," Her brother muttered, already walking towards the tower. The others followed, leaving Their teammate alone to stew in her own embarrassment.

* * *

Prince Apple wasn't sure how to feel. When that dragon had locked him up in the tower, he had feared for nothing but his own life. That gave way to confusion and lead him to ponder what exactly the beast wanted from him. Was he after his riches? His kingdom? Or maybe he just wanted the prince to suffer?

After what had to be days of waiting, the confusion had shifted into full-on boredom. There wasn't an awful lot to do inside the room after all: It was literally just four stone walls and a floor, with a toilet sitting in the corner of the room. The only proper interaction he had was when the small kobolds slid a tray of food through a flap in the wall. They treated him like a master would a pet he had grown sick of; providing the bare minimum to keep him alive and not a second more of attention.

Just when he thought all hope was lost, sounds of screaming, explosions and yelling brought him back to reality. The shouts were getting louder and he swore he could smell smoke coming from under the door. Before long, the wooden shield fell to the ground, a quartet of heroes standing in the doorway.

"Are you Prince Apple?" A tall, blonde girl said, arms folded across her chest.

"I…I am, yes."

"Thank goodness," A honey-haired girl in a white nun's uniform said. "We're here to rescue you."

It was at that point that Apple noticed the second half of his rescue party. The knight in literally shining armour and what had to be a witch. The latter was nothing to write home about but the knight… His eyes just screamed determination and his body had just the right amount of muscle. He had to play some kind of sport in his spare time.

While the attractive man looked at him with indifference, the witch walked forward and took his hand. Hers were absolutely laced with sweat and her one visible eye was a hideously dull green.

"H..Hi…" She muttered, staring up at him.

"Um…Hello…" The royal replied, not sure what else to say.

She spluttered like a car engine, a small line of drool dripping from her mouth. Her face had lit up to a bright pink and he swore that the sweat on her hand had multiplied tenfold.

"We…We rescued you…" She muttered. "Are….You…Reward?"

The white mage and the martial artist were whispering to each other. The heartthrob stood with one hand on his hip, looking like he wanted to disappear. Apple couldn't blame him. What did this woman mean by 'Reward'?

"Y…Yes…I suppose I owe you four some kind of compensation." He muttered politely.

He tried to back off, only for the girl to follow him. Her hands were like a crab's pincers, tightening only when her prey (Which, unfortunately, was him) tried to get away.

"Th…Then…K…Kiss?" She spat, saliva going everywhere.

"Mokochii, maybe you should let him go?"

He couldn't agree more with the honey-haired girl. 'Mokochii' however, didn't seem to have heard. She pressed her repulsive lips into a kiss shape and leant in forward slowly. There was time for him to run away, to push past her and dash down the steps…

But he couldn't. These four had risked their very lives to come save him. The least he could do was obey her wishes. Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips together and leant forward. He could feel the girl's breath touch his face; it smelt like cheap ramen and convenience store snacks.

Just when he was about to do something he'd regret, he heard the clinking of armour and a body hit the floor. Opening his eyes, he saw the witch lying on the ground. In her place was the finely toned warrior.

"Sorry about that. My sister's an idiot," He said plainly.

Apple couldn't have agreed more. Despite his criticism, he couldn't notice that the warrior was pressing his own face very close to his. Their noses had to be only a millimetre apart by now.

"Wh…What's your name?" The prince whispered.

"Kuroki. Tomoki Kuroki," He said with a low, somewhat gruff voice.

"Thank you for rescuing me, Kuroki-sama."

The warrior smiled. Not a big, phoney smile that the prince was used to; this one was smaller and reserved. His eyes were very much like his sisters, only a small sparkle was alight amongst the murkiness.

"Just 'San' is fine, thank you. I only did what I had to do."

And he was humble. Most who came across the prince would brag, beg, plead for a minute of his attention. Tomoki however, didn't do anything of the sort. He wanted to be with Apple, the real Apple. He would reward him greatly, of course, but the warrior hadn't even pressed the issue. Even after all he'd been through…

"I'm glad you're OK," He whispered.

"Th…Thank you…"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the black mage being dragged off by the other two girls. 'Mokochii' had her mouth wide open and looked like she was going to explode any second. The white mage and the martial artist looked over at him, the former mouthing 'one second'.

Then the door shut. He was alone with his hero…

"Really…Thank you."

"It was my pleasure saving you, my prince."

His armour made a clinking noise as he bent down on one knee. Apple wasn't sure if Tomoki moved his arm or if he himself moved it forward of his own accord. His hero's lips felt warm against his hand, or was it just that his skin was cold from the castle's lack of heating?

After the kiss, Apple bent down to meet at Tomoki's level. The two of them stared at each other, neither willing to make the first move…

* * *

"Mokochii, please calm down…"

Tomoko, Yoshida and Yuu were sitting outside the room, blocked off by a large wooden door. While the latter two were able to control themselves, Tomoko felt like she'd been torn in half.

This is my freaking dream! I should be the one making out with the prince right now! The girl thought to herself, a low growl passing her lips.

She pressed her ear to the door, desperate to hear something, anything from outside. To her displeasure, there was nothing. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on in there but they definitely weren't having a conversation. That could mean…

The door opened. Tomoko fell to the ground.

"What the heck are you doing?"

When she picked herself up, she could see a blush had infected both her brother and the prince. A hard, thick blush that looked like it could very well be scraped from their faces entirely.

A fire ignited in the maiden's belly, giving her no option but to grab Tomoki and send him hurtling him down the stairs. As he tumbled down the case like a metal boulder, she set her sights on the prince. This was HER dream. There was absolutely no reason why she should be anything but totally and utterly pissed off.

"Kiss me."

"E-Excuse me?!"

"No more games! I got thrown through a dragon for you! Now, give me my kiss!" Tomoko screamed with vigour she didn't even know she had.

"I…I can't."

Bullshit.

"And why not?!"

"I…I…I'm gay…"

Tomoko stared at the prince like he'd grown an extra head. After nailing every cliché in the JRPG genre, now was the time that things would be different!? It was bad enough that she'd been thrown out the room in place of her little brother but now her worst nightmares had come back to bite her in the ass!

"You're…You're kidding, right?"

Prince Apple shook his head. Tomoko felt like she was going to faint.

So, she did.

* * *

Tomoko woke up, feeling a strange mix of whiplash and nausea. Although she hadn't physically moved, as far as her mind was concerned, she was about to fall flat on her back on a cold stone floor.

"Dammit…What time is it anyways?"

The clock on her phone read half-past Eleven. It was almost too late for breakfast, given that she'd be eating lunch in about an hour or so. Without much else to do, she once again submitted to the comforting embrace of her bedsheets.

Oh, that's right!

Tomoko's thumbs tapped against the screen almost rhythmically. After last night's dream, there was one bit of info she had to find out about the game. She'd promised herself she'd keep the ending a secret but she'd already found out everything else anyway. Besides, she had to be absolutely sure there was no risk of THAT happening.

Clicking on the first result she got, Tomoko's eyes scanned the screen carefully.

Then, she dropped her phone and let out a groan.

I don't believe this…

To her horror, Prince Apple was indeed gay. When rescued, he would pick a random male member of the party and give them a kiss of gratitude. If there were no male members of the party, he'd simply give you a stack of cash as thanks.

The lovesick girl looked over at the game console next to her. Suddenly, she didn't feel like playing the game anymore.

* * *

"Hey, little brother."

Tomoki couldn't remember the last time his sister had invaded his room for a chat. Near the end of her first year, the talks had become much more few and far between. Still, it was an inevitability; they shared the same house, after all, occasionally she was going to walk into the room.

"Do you ever dream about me?"

The young man didn't even flinch. Years of disgusting questions had made him develop a tough outer shell. He was not going to give her the satisfaction of making him squirm.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain. Get out."

He couldn't understand why but he could feel a dark aura emitting from his sister. Much as it pained him to do it, he turned around.

"I dreamt about you last night. Stay out of my dreams."

She left the room without further comment, slamming the door shut behind her. When her stench had dissipated from the four walls, Tomoki couldn't help but think.

 _What the hell was all that about?_


End file.
